The use of "go fund me" these days is a bit like online begging

[BlackGirlAndRobin]

I get that its used for a lot of good, which is great, and I've readily supported friends in the past who were raising funds for charity etc. But recently I've seen some rather dubious fundraising attempts which have left me thinking

The one I've just seen is for a "homeless" soldier who has had his bedsit broken into. The thieves took his "Apple Mac" laptop which had precious photos of his time as a soldier. This person has raised over £800 so far.

Other one I saw was a guy who wasn't eligible for a maintenance style grant to study away from home. So was asking for help to pay for his accommodation.

I'm being cynical unreasonable, aren't I? Obviously each to their own and all that.

Nope not unreasonable , it is just shameless begging. I guess it's up to people whether they give or not though so it doesn't bother me at all

There will always be people taking advantage of others regaless of the medium.
You give to what you think you should give. Ignore the rest. Unless it looks criminal.

I also dislike its use for people seeking to fund restoration projects and that ilk. Look, it's a business venture. If you can't afford it, don't take it on. I'm not paying for it.

As a website "Go Fund Me" has no more oversight than PayPal but there is a veneer of 'charitable organisation' to it that tends to obscure the picture.

The baby Dax (or Drax?) saga was quite an eye-opener.

Good point strawberry Just intrigued at the amount of people who take these things at face value.

It should be banned, especially after baby Dax. It's begging and taking advantage but will continue as people don't see it and keep giving.

The Baby Dax one wasn't genuine?

...or have more money then sense

The Baby Dax one wasn't genuine?

It was poorly handled with confusion about what was needed, shall we say?

There were several long threads here and the FB page was interesting.

YANBU.

DD got sent a message on fb from this girl who she hasn't seen in years, asking if she could donate to help her boyfriend's battle with depression as he overdosed recently and now needs help for rehabilitation - it was something along those lines, she wrote a massive paragraph about what happened but not what the money was for...that seemed very much public begging, especially since DD hasn't met the boyfriend.

I agree, there will be people taking the piss. You don't have to fund them.

I think that it is a good website. No one has to donate if they don't want to. In the last year, three people I know have used it. one to raise money for a baby's future when her dad died very suddenly, one for an electric wheelchair for a friend who desperately needs one but can't get it funded and one for a little one who hasn't got much time left and whose family want to give her some good memories. These are all good causes, and it enabled people to easily donate.

I think people are smart enough to work out if something is a good cause or not and act accordingly. Of course people will take the piss, but that doesn't take away from the real help that has been given to people who desperately needed it.

Go fund Me is an unregulated crowdfunding platform. It isnt restricted to charitable fundraising and never has been. It's the modern day equivalent of "in search of a benefactor". My friend raised US$200k to produce an independent documentary. Someone else I know raised US$10k for a research project in Montana. As with all unregulated investments, the investor has to do their own due diligence. Otherwise, just donate to a registered charity.

I thoroughly approve of crowdfunding, especially for the creative arts. Money should move around; it's when it's siphoned off into private stores that the system starts to collapse, crushing the bottom layer first, of course.

My cousin is raising money for his son's medical bills in America. His son has cancer, he's only 12. The bills are HUGE. In America I think this site is used a lot for that kind of thing.
I get your point but it's been a useful tool for them, can't really blame them.

wonder if i would get any money if i done fund my gastric band.

wonder what is reasonable to ask for funding with. i guess maybe if there has been a house fire and lots of things have been destroyed. or maybe someone has been in an accident and there is something for it that the money needs raising for. i would think they would reasonable things to ask for funding/help.

i guess everyone feels different about it. but from what i have heard it does seem cheeky. but i guess the people donating the money are making their own choice.

Yanbu, I saw one on Facebook the other day of a girl asking for donations as her boyfriends ban has been broken into & stolen and all his tools were taken...
He should of had insurance like any tradesperson for this eventuality

It a useful way to collectively from an already established community.

The company I work for are using it for a whip round for presents for marriage / retirement etc. Saves someone having to bother taking an envelope round which is hard when everyone is not in the same office

You don't have to give. But it's an easy way to collect

wonder if i would get any money if i done fund my gastric band.

You should- what have you got to lose?

what is reasonable to ask for funding with

Anything you like. People can always say no.

I knew a woman who started one to help an injured kitten she'd found. She raised enough money but she had a lot of problems actually getting the money from PayPal and they took quite a cut. I mean both PayPal and GoFundMe take a percentage. Then people started really hassling her about the treatment the kitten got and the lack of updates and it put a lot of pressure on her. It was an odd situation.

As Mumsnet says never give more than you can afford and be aware that people aren't always who they say they are or something like that

I think it's worse in the US where people have huge medical bills. You get heart rending stories. And of course, no idea which ones are genuine.

A friend had to leave facebook for a while because she kept getting sucked in and reading these awful stories and it was actually affecting her mental health (they had illness in the family and it was just touching a raw nerve.)

I, too, had thought it was just people collecting sponsorship for charity runs etc. I suppose I was naive!

I won't donate to anything not regulated through a registered charity.

I recently had an email from someone I hadn't seen for years trying to raise £5000. His girlfriend is pregnant and they want a new car and money for the baby. I also know someone who is asking money for cosmetic surgery. I have not contributed to either.

A lot of DD's contemporaries are asking for help with uniform/pointe shoes;I struggle with the idea

But I'm not sure how different is was to me getting the book of charitable/educational grant and emailing/writing to them all for help

katy well I guess the difference is that those foundations solicit applications whereas Joe Public doesn't but my view is that crowdfunding platforms create liquidity and transparency in a philanthropic market, and people are at liberty to just ignore or say no.

Like midnite I would not donate to a sob story but I might well support an elite young athlete trying to find a sponsor to race a major trail race overseas, for example, as that's an interest of mine and it's not typically something served by charities. I'd also be in a good positon to validate the story.